The Exterminator  | 1980 | USA | James Glickenhaus

The most well-known of cult filmmaker James Glickenhaus’ filmography, The Exterminator represented a honing of the director’s skills that he hadn’t yet developed when helming Suicide Cult. Taking a less disturbing route than Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, the film instead follows John and his war buddy Michael, as they survive the torturous conditions within Vietnam. Returning to society, the pair try to earn an honest living, only for Michael to become permanently disfigured by street thugs which causes John to snap, murdering the men with a flamethrower. Deciding to wreak vengeance on all those who have wronged him, John’s actions eventually begin gaining notice by local police officer Dalton, who tracks down the vigilante just as the CIA begin to equally close in on the vengeful assassin. The film was seized quite often by police forces, despite not being listed officially and being the BBFC cinema print on the tape anyway.